Audience
Educators
Grade Levels
Grades K-4, Grades 5-8
Subject
Physical Science, Forces and Motion
Type
Educator Guides, Lesson Plans / Activities, Other Multimedia
Time Required: 2-3 days
The Treehouse Detectives continue investigating pulleys, and Bianca continues researching various engineering careers for her presentation. Everyone is positive that pulleys are the answer to getting Jacob into the treehouse. They think they have all the information they need to lift Jacob. Fortunately, they test their apparatus before putting Jacob in it, and they quickly realize that they have not considered safety features. A NASA safety engineer suggests that they also need to consider human factors. Back at the treehouse, the detectives have used their last pulley, but Jacob is still too heavy to lift. They stop by Dr. D’s lab in hopes that he will be able to help them reduce the force needed to lift Jacob and to help them figure out what to do with all that rope from the pulley system.
Objectives: Students will
• Investigate how pulleys make work easier.
• Construct a lever to lift a large weight.
• Investigate the use of gears.
NASA SCI Files — The Case of the Powerful Pulleys Segment 3
Video Component Description [581KB]
Watch NASA SCI Files — The Case of the Powerful Pulleys Segment 3
Segment 3 Description, Objectives and Vocabulary [173KB]
Lessons:
Powerful Pulleys [99KB]
Load-Lifting Lever [95KB]
Creative Gears [59KB]
Answer Key [199KB]
This segment is a part of The Case of the Powerful Pulleys Unit.